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New trains to ease the commute in the capital

City planners seek to relieve crowded transport with parking and rail changes

By Kimberly Ashton
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
May 16th, 2007 issue

As buses and trains groan under the increasing number of people they haul to, from and around Prague, city planners are busy developing a multilayered approach to ease commutes and prune cars from the congested center.
The backbone of this new network is now being laid in the Žižkov neighborhood, where workers have bored two parallel double-track tunnels under Vítkov Hill. This line will open in December 2008 and will be a key step in expanding and modernizing the suburban transportation system, according to Pavel Mathé of the Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC), which is in charge of the project.
The crowding of Prague’s public transportation system has become increasingly visible in recent years. Rush-hour trams, metros and buses are often packed to capacity as herds of commuters, tourists and others try to squeeze on.
“The scale of individual bus transport in Prague has now reached its limit. It has been bearable up till now,” Mathé said. “There are 300,000 people commuting to Prague per day. Technically, it is not possible to cater to such a great number.”
Those who choose to drive in don’t necessarily have it easier than those who use public transportation.
“It’s really complicated,” commuter Aleš Wagner, who lives in Prague 10, said of downtown parking. Sometimes he finds a spot right away and sometimes it can take as long as an hour to find one.
“Parking is more complicated every year because of the development of Prague as a business and cultural center. … Thus the number of cars commuting to Prague is increasing,” Deputy Mayor Rudolf Blažek said.
Martin Květoň of Neratovice commutes into Prague 1 every day for work and said the parking situation has worsened over the past decade.
But providing more parking in the city’s center is not an option, Blažek said, since there is simply no more space.
This autumn, restricted parking will extend to Prague 2, 3 and 7. That means no more free parking in  Holešovice, Nové Město and Žižkov. And the city is considering implementing a system in which cars pay to enter central Prague that could come into effect around 2010, Blažek said.
Revamping the railways
The city is banking on increased rail services to ease commuter congestion.
“All the investments into railroad infrastructure in the Prague region are being realized in order to satisfy the increasing demand for public transport,” Mathé said. The nation will invest 3 billion Kč ($143,816) per year until 2015 into railroad infrastructure.
“Traffic congestion is getting to be a serious problem, which is why the trains are needed,” Czech Railways spokesman Ondřej Kubala said.
The new commuter lines, which will run underneath Vítkov, could “satisfy the increasing demand for public transport,” Mathé said. One will run between Stránčice, Prague, Lysá nad Labem and Milovice; and a second between Řevnice, Prague, Český Brod and Poříčany-Nymburk. In addition, the Prague-Kladno railway will be modernized with a connection to Ruzyně Airport.
Kubala said rail passenger traffic is expected to increase 30 percent after the changes are implemented.
The city is also putting great emphasis on the development of park-and-ride lots, where commuters can deposit their cars in lots near metro and train stations and ride into the city center on public transport. The cost to park a car for a day is 10 Kč. These systems should mean fewer cars downtown.
Meanwhile, a summer of clogged roads, stuffy trams, crammed metros and overcrowded buses awaits.
— Naďa Černá and Hela Balínová contributed to this report.

Kimberly Ashton can be reached at kashton@praguepost.com


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